Pipe-bending tool.



0. A. MALO & F. H. MELAT.

PIPE BENDING TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 21, 1912.

1,075,837. Patented Oct. 14, 1913 GRAY AJMAIIOYAND FRANK H. MELAT, OF MICHIGAN CITY, INDIANA.

PIPE-BENDING TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. '14, 1 913;

Application filed December 21, 1912. Serial No. 737,940.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, ORAY A. MALO and FRANK H. MELAT, citizens of the United States, and residents of Michigan City, in the county of Laporte and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Bending Tools; and we do hereby declare that the following is a.

full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to that class of pipe-bending tools having a segmental forming member, an operating lever ivotally connected with the forming mem er, and means for operatively connecting the lever with the forming member in such a manner 'as to enable the lever to operate the forming member in one direction in a stcp-bystep manner and to move freely with respect to the forming member or shoe in the opposite direction, when desired, and means for holding a pipe in engagement with the forming member during the operation of bending the pipe.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple, economical and eflicient pipe-bending tool.

A further object of the invention is to provide apipe-bendirig tool comprising a' rocking or segmental forming member provided with means for securing it in fixed relation to a pipe to be operated upon, and having a lever pivotally connected with and adapted to be adjusted to different positions with respect to the forming member, so as to enable the forming member to be operated by the lever in a st-cp-bystep manner with the levcr at the desired incline and in posi tion to enable the operator to apply his cnergios thereto to the best advantage and to utilize the weight of his body in' operating the lever and thereby the forming member while lhclattcr is fixed to thc'pipe and without disengaging the forn'iing-mcmliier from the pipe, when desired, and adapted to enable the forming member :to be readily moved along the pipe and secured in operative engagement therewith indifferent )ositions ro 'ressivelv in a stco-bv-stc l 2-: l i

,manncr, when desired, for the purpose of bending the pipe.

'A further object of the invention to provide means whereby the operating lever is adapted to be rigidly secured to therockin or segmental forming memberin dif ferent adpisted positions in such a manner as to enable the tool to be employed for the purpose of straightening or partially straightening a bend in a pipe either with or without reversing the position of the tool with respect to the pipe, as desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pipe-bending tool ha ing a rocking or tilting segmental formmg member or shoe, and a toothed "ratchet member to which the segmental forming member or shoe isremovably secured, in such a manner as to enable forming shoes or segmental forming members of difierentsizes, or hav' ing peripheral forming portions of different shapes or sizes, to be removably secured to and interchangeably used in connection with the same ratchet member, and

an operating lever provided with a pawl adapted to engage the ratchet, all seconstructcd and arranged as to enable the operator to employ the weight of his body, and to have the lever in the most advantageous position so as to affordthe best possible leverage, in operating the lever in a stcp-by-step manner andwit'h'outchanging the position of the forming,;mem;ber with respect to the pipe in the operation of bending the pipe, except when the disen-v gagement of the forming member from the pipe is desirable for the purpose of noving the forming member along the pipe to diffcrent positions progressively in order to enable the pipe to be bent to the desired extent or into the desired form.

A further of the invention is to provide an operating lever having a socket member and a handle in screw-threaded engagement with each other, the handle having a non-threaded portion extending into and ci'icircled by a non-three'dcd.{portion of the socket member whereby 2i connec tion between the handle and let'meiiiber is afforded, which is of such'streiigth as to enable the lever to withstand strains which wouldbe sufficient to break. the threaded portion of the handle and socket member in the absence of the strengthening efiect ot' the non-threaded engaging portions.

Other and further objects of the inrontion will appear from. an examination of the following description and claims and 'The invention consists in the features, COIIlbll'latl0I1, and details of construction herein deserlbed and claimed,

" In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1- 1s a view in elevation of a pipe-bending tool constructed in accordancev with our in-- vention and improvements, showing the same in operative engagement with a pipe to be bent thereby, andshowing the operat' ing lever in broken lines in position to enable the forming member to be operated in a step-by-step manner and by successive reciprocating movements of the lever in the operation of bending the pipe; Fig. 2, a p an view of the pipe-bending tool shown in Fig. 1, with the pipe omitted; Fig. 3, a detail sectional view of the socket member for engaging and holding a pipe in fixed engagement with the segmental rec-king or forming member; Fig. 4, a VlQW in side elevation of the pipe-bending tool in which-a rocking member or forming member is shown which comprises a,shoe and toothed ratchet member removably secured in engagement with each othenand adapted to enable forming. shoes of different sizes to be interchangeably used in connection with the same ratchet member or ortion, and showing an operating lever pivotally connected with one of the interchangeable shoes, and having a pawl thereon adapted to engage the ratchet teeth of the ratchet member; and Fig. 5, a detail view of a modified form of socket member or loop for holding a; pipe in engagement with the forming shoe.

In' constructing a pipe-forming tool in accordance with our invention and im-.

provements, a rocking, formin member a is provided having a segmenta peripheral portion 6 which is curved or in the form of an arc of a circle of the desired curvature,

and has a peripheral groove 0 adapted toreceive and engage the pipe to be operated upon. The curvature of, the curved, segmental, peripheral portion of the forming member or shoe should correspond approximately with the desired curvature to which the pipe is. to be bent, althouglrit will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that thepipe may be bent soas to form a curve or segment of a circle of much greater diameter than the circle of which the periphery of the forming member forms a segment or arm A socket member cl, which may be in the form of a loop or jaw and is provided on its inner surface with toothed -or serrated portions 6, is secured to the forming member or shoe in position to form, in connection with the grooved, peripheral portion of the shoe, a clamping jaw or socket having an aperture or openin f, the contour of which corresponds su stantially with the contour of the pipe to be operated upon.

An operating lever is provided, which I screw-threaded portion j and an inner nonthreaded socket portion, or inner peripheral surface portion, In, as shown in Fig. 1, and a handle Z, having a threaded end portion m is inserted in threaded engagement with the threaded socket, and has a nonthreaded peripheral portion 71 which extends into and is encircled by and in rigid engagement with the non threaded inner surface portion is of the socket 2'. The forked arm portions 9 may be secured to the socket portion i by means of bolts 0, as indicated in Fig. 4, or may be made integral with the socket portion i, as shown in Fig. 2. The lever is provided with apawl p which is pivotally mounted thereon by' means of a pivot pin 9, and a spring 1' is secured to the lever by means of a screw or rivet s, or other suitable securing means,

in position to yieldingly engage the pawl p and hold the end of the latter yieldingly in engagement with the ratchet teeth t which are mounted uponor made in one integral piece with the forming member or shoe.

In Fig. 1' the segmental forming member or shoe is shown provided with a series of ratchet teeth -t extending along the upper edge thereof in position to be engaged by the pawl p, the ratchet teeth being integral with the segmental forming member or shoe. The pivot h, pawl p, and ratchet teeth It thus form a means for operatively connecting the operating lever with the forming shoe, in such a manner that the shoe forming shoe in a step-by-step manner in one direction or in the direction necessary to bend the pipe, and. is adapted to be moved in the opposite direction-indifferent adjusted positions with respect to the forming shoe Without disturbing thle -fengagement between the forming shoel nd pipe. The forming shoe may thus beti'l'ted tatcd to the position shown in fii-lllines in Fig. 1 in such a manner as to bend the pipe, as indicated in said figure,while the lever is at the desired incline to afford the most or roe)" efl'ective leverage or in a position to enable the operator to apply his strength to the lever to the greatest advantage by reason of having the lever in the most advantageous position and angle, and the lever may then be moved to the position shown in broken lines in said figure, so that the pawl is in engagement with a different ratchet tooth and the lever again in position to be operated to the greatest advantage and pressed downward toward the position in which it is shown in full lines, thus still further tilting or rotating the forming member in a step by step manner, thereby bending the portion of the pipe engaged by the forming member to a curvature corresponding with the curvature of the peripheral slot or segmental peripheral forniing portion of the shoe. A pointer or groove u, which is preferably in the form of an arrow, is placed upon the shoe in a position which indicates the point of the beginning of the bend in the pipe to be operated upon, and it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the shoe. may be moved along the pipe in a step-by-step manner in the direction of the relatively straight portion of the pipe and the shoe partially rotated or operated in the manner above described progressively lengthwise of the pipe to any desired extent or until the desired portion of the pipe has been bent to the desired extent.

In order to enable the lever to be secured in rigid relation to the forming shoe or member in such a manner as to enable the shoe to be rotated in the opposite direction from that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, when it is desired to straighten or partially straighten a pipe which has been bent to a greater extent than is desired, or for any reason, the lever is provided with perforations 11: in its forked arms and the forming member or shoe is provided with one or more perforations 1 adapted to register with the perforations to when the lever is rotated or adjusted to the position in which it is desired to secure it in rigid relation to the shoe. and a pin is inserted through the perforations u and 1/, as shown in Fig. -l, so as to hold the lever and forming member or shoe in rigid relation to each other, and in such positirn as to enable the shoe to be partially rotated or tilted in the opposite directicn from that in which it is moved in bending the pipe in such a manner as to straighten or partially straighten the pipe.

The tool comprising the forming member and operating lever pivotally connected tl'icrewith, is adapted to be reversed and secured in operative engagement with the pipe in the reverse position from that shown in Fig. 1 in order to straighten the pipe, when desired, but by securing the lever and forming member in rigid relation to each other by incans of the pin 2, as

already described, the straightening of the pipe to the desired extent can in practice usually be accomplished without reversing the position of the tool With respect to the pipe,

A spring clip or catch 2 is secured to the forming member or shoe by means ofscrews 3, or other suitable securing means, and has a projecting end portion 4 adjacent to the side surface of the pawl 12, the projecting end portion of the clip being provided with an aperture 5 therein adapted to receive a laterally projecting pin '6 which ismounted upon the pawl in position to extend into the aperture 5 when the operating lever is in such position that the pawl is in engagement with the end tooth of the series of ratchet teeth, as indicated in Fig. 1. The lever and forming member or shoe are thus adapted to be secured in rigid relation to each other when in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, and the spring clip or catch 2 is adapted to be pressed laterally out of engagement with the pin 6 upon the pawl so as to free the pawl and permit the movement of the lever into position to causethe pawl to engage any desired ratchet tooth. The spring clip is in POsitiOn to be readily operated by means of the foot of the operator, and the adjacent end portion of the forming member or shoe is provided with teeth or serrations 7 against which the operator may apply pressure, by means of the foot or otherwise, in order to hold the forming shoe in proper position during the movement of the lever to any desired adjusted position with respect to the forming member or shoe. By pressing downward upon the serrated end portion 7 of the forming shoe, the toothed or serrated portion 6 of the loop or socket member is held securely in engagement with the pipe and the shoe is thus prevented from slipping during the operation of adjusting the lever with respect to the shoe or forming member, and the serrations on the inner surface of the socket member J are also adapted to prevent the pipe "and forming member or shoe from slipping with relation to each other during the operation of bending the pipe. The jaw or socket member (I may be loosely or pivotally supported by the pin 12, and a bolt or boss 20 may be mounted in position to limit the pivotal movement of the jaw (Z and of the lever or handle Z, as shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. t a forming shoe 8 is shown having a segmental peripheral portion 9 provided with a segmental peripheral groove adapted to engage a pipe 10 which is held in position in the groove by means of a removable socket member or jaw 11, which is a modified form of theremovablc socketmember or jaw (i, already described, and is, by preference, in the form of a loop having both sides of the socket formed thereby closed, and is secured to the forming shoe 8 by means of a headed bolt 12 and nut 13, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The bolt 12 is mounted in the forming member or shoe and extends through the jaw or socket member 11 so as to form a pivot or flexible connection between the forming member and jaw wherebythe jaw or socket member may be swung outward into position to admit a pipe or inward with the pipe so as to tightly clamp or grasp the pipe when the lever is operated to rock or tilt the shoe or forming member to bend the pipe. A bolt 12' is adapted to be inserted through suitable apertures in the jaw or socket member and shoe, for holding them in rigid or fixed engagement, when desired-as when used for straightening 'out a bend in a pipe. A nut 13' may be mounted on the threaded end of the bolt 12'. The forming shoe 8 is re movably secured to the upper ratchet toothed portion or member 13 by means of a tongue 14' upon one of said members, and a similarly shaped groove 15 in the other of said members adapted trrlorm a trngueand-groove connection therehetween, and screws 16 and 17 are inserted in suitable threaded apertures and in threaded engagement with the toothed member, for the purpose of still more securely holding the shoe 8 in position. 1 By this arrangement any desired number of shoes 8 of different sizes having peripheries or peripheral groove portions of different contour may be used interchangeably upon or in connection with the same ratchet toothed member 13, and the ratchet teeth 2? of the latter are adapted to be engaged by the pawl p in such a manner as to enable the lever to be moved to any desired adjusted position with respect to the forming shoe or forming member. as already oescribed. The operating lever is thus adapted to operate the forming member. comprising an upper ratchet toothed portion if and any desired one of a plurality or set of interchangeable forming shoes 8, and to bend or straighten a pipc in the manner already described and without the use of a bench or stationary clamp or device of any description.

The tool above described is portable and is adapted to enable a pipe to be bent with great accuracy and the point at which the bending is to begin is indicated with accuracy by means of the marker or pointer it, already described. A chain 14 secured at one end to the forming shoe by means ofa pin or bolt 2 which maybe removably inserted in either the holes to in the lever or in the hole 19 in the shoe or forming member alternately, as desired, the opposite end of the chain being secured to a bolt 12. The chain may be secured to the forming member or shoe by securing pin 21, or in any desired manner. A spring 16 is mounted upon the forming shoe in position to hold the pin 2 in inoperative position when the latter is not in use for the purpose of rigidly connecting the lever and forming member or shoe.

lVe claim:

1. A pipe bending tool, comprising a forming member having a pipe-engaging surface, a pipe-engaging jaw mounted. upon and movable with said forming member and adapted to hold a pipe in rigid engagement with the pipe-engaging surface of said forming 'member, an operating lever pivotally connected with the forming member, and a locking member connected with said lever and adapted, in the movement of said lever in one direction, to lock said forming member to said lever, said locking member being adapted in the movement of said lever in the opposite direction, to unlock said lever from said forming member and permit said lever to be moved freely with respect to said forming member and said pipeengaging aw.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a segmental forming member, a pipe-engaging jaw connected with said forming member and adapted to hold a pipe in rigid engagement with the latter, an operating lever pivotally connected with the forming member, and pawl and ratchet mechanism adapted to connect the lever in rigid relation' to the forming member in the movement of the lever in one direction, and to permit the movement of the lever with respect to the forming member in an oppo- Site direction.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a forming member having a curved peripheral portion, a socket member connected with said forming member and adapted to hold a pipe in' rigid engagement with the grooved peripheral portion of the forming member, an operating lever pivotally connected with the segmental forming member, a ratchet upon one of said members, and a pawl mounted upon the other of said members and adapted to engage the ratchet.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a forming member having a grooved peripheral portion, a socket member connected with said forming member and adapted to hold a pipe in rigid engagement with the grooved peripheral portion .of the forming member, an operating lever pivotally connected with the segmental forming member, a ratchet upon one of said members, a pawl mounted upon the other of said members and adapted to engage the ratchet, and means for connecting the lever in rigid relation to the forming member in different adjusted positions with respect to the latter.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a forming member having a curved peripheral groove in the peripheral edge thereof, a pipe -engaging jaw mounted on the forming member and adapted to hold a pipe in rigid engagement with the peripherally grooved portion of the latter, an operating lever having forked arms pivotally connected with said segmental forming member on oppositesides thereof, a ratchet upon the segmental forming member, a pawl pivotally mounted upon the operating lever and adapted to engage the ratchet, and means for yieldingly holding the pawl in operative engagement with the ratchet.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a segmental forming shoe having a curved peripheral groove in the peripheral edge thereof, a pipe-engaging jaw mounted on the forming shoe and adapted to hold a pipe in engagement with the peripherally grooved portion of the latter, an operating lever pivotally connected with the forming shoe, ratchet teeth upon the seg mental forming shoe, a pawl pivotally mounted upon the operating lever, means for yieldingl'y holding the pawl in operative engagement with the ratchet teeth, and means for connecting the lever in rigid engagement with the forming shoe in different adjusted positions.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a segmental forming member having a grooved peripheral slot, an operating lever pivotally connected with the segmental forming member, a ratchet upon one of said members, a pawl mounted upon the other of said members and adapted to engage the ratchet, and a pipe-engaging jaw pivotally connected with said forming member and adapted to hold a pipe in engagement with the grooved peripheral portion of the forming member.

t l l 8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a segmental forming shoe having a grooved peripheral portion, a pipeengaging aw mounted on the forming shoe and adapted to hold a pipe in engagement with the peripherally grooved portion of the shoe, a toothed ratchet member, a pawl pivotall mounted upon the operating lever, means for yicldingly holding the pawl in operative engagement with the ratchet teeth, and means for removably connecting the forming shoewith the ratchet member.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination of a segmental forming mem her. a ripe-engaging jaw connected with said forming member and adapted to hold a pipe in engagement with the latter, an operating lever comprising a pair of forked arms extending on opposite sides of and pivotallv connected with the forming member, and having a threaded socket member with which the upper ends of the forked arms are connected, and a handle having a threaded end portion in threaded engagement with said socket. and having a non-threaded portion encircled by said socket, and pawl and ratchet mechanism connected with the lever and forming member, respectively, for operatively connecting the lever with the forming member in diflerent adjusted positions.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention we attix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses, this 18th day of December A. I). 1912.

ORAY A. MALO. FRANK H. MELAT.

\Vi tnesses or. H. MCKINLEY, P. MELLEN. 

